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Blog Tour: GOLDEN by Melinda Michaels

Howdy, people! This blog post is chock full of goodies, so let’s get started, shall we?

You remember the story of Goldilocks, yes? A little girl gets lost in the woods and finds a cottage in which to take shelter. She eventually trashes the place and passes out. Then the homeowners, who are bears (because bears are awesome), come home and after surveying the damage, find the curly-haired home invader and drive her off. We all know that story.

Melinda Michaels’ GOLDEN is nothing like that story. In New Hope, Michigan, there are larger mysteries than, “Who ate my porridge?” and “Who’s been sleeping in my bed?” This is what I latched on to when I first saw GOLDEN in its developmental phase. The fact that Hanna was descended from someone who lived “once upon a time” was incidental to me. How it affected her life (past and present), and those around her—especially fellow once-upon-a-timers William and Owen—was what I wanted to know. And, if Hanna is descended from the Goldilocks of legend, where are the counterparts from her story?

It’s my hope that lovers of magical realism and fairy tales will be as taken with GOLDEN as I am. The problem I find myself facing now is knowing there are two more books planned in this series, and I ever so much want to know more about the GOLDEN universe. I’ll just have to be satisfied knowing that the first book is out there, and hopefully the rest will be coming soon.

About Golden:

*flails wildly at the prettiness! FLAIL WITH ME!*

High school senior Hanna Loch just suffered a blackout in front of her entire homeroom class. She hasn’t had one in over ten years, and she’s terrified—the last time she blacked out, she woke up with no memory of her life before. To make matters worse, no one can explain why it happens. For Hanna, bad things tend to come in threes.

And that doesn’t even begin to cover it . . .

When she learns she could be a descendant of someone who lived once upon a time, Hanna must put her trust in William Vann, a descendant of one of the most hated villains ever known. Their histories are intertwined in more ways than she expected, and he has answers about her past, answers even her family won’t share.

But is it safe to put her trust in someone who appears to be danger reincarnate, while trying to escape the darkness that tried to kill her ten years ago?

A loose fairytale retelling, GOLDEN is a story that’s just right, weaving together lost secrets, vengeful enemies, and what happens when fiction becomes reality.

7 Questions with Melinda Michaels

Melinda Michaels

Michelle H: Without getting too spoiler­y, what are the origins of the Golden universe?

Melinda Michaels: In the Golden universe, there are people who are magically touched, for lack of a better term. They are descendants of the people who inspired fairytales and when those tales were first written down, magic to some extent did exist because people believe in it and I think when we believe in something we give it power. So these descendants are somewhat leftovers of an extinct magic, but because they are relatives, they have a few ounces of magic in them, which makes their stories repeat themselves every few generations.

MH: Who is your favorite Golden character to write and why?

MM: It would have to be Owen. He’s a pretty complex guy who isn’t secure with himself, which is difficult since his lineage sort of dictates him to be a certain way and he fights it. He can’t help being good, but he can be a jerk.

MH: What are your preferred/least preferred parts of the writing process?

MM: I like researching things a lot. Histories, names, people… It’s the historian in me. I sort of dislike the character analysis. I love when it’s finished, but when it’s blank and staring at me, waiting, I clean the house, do bills and run errands. Really anything to avoid starting them.

MH: What’s your typical (or even atypical) writing day like?

MM: I rarely write during the day. I’m a night owl, so I usually wait until six or seven, read through what I’ve written so far and then start. I make way too many cups of tea and if I’m really struck with the writing bug, I’ll going into the laundry room, turn on the machines and write hunched over my laptop for hours until either three in the morning or later depending on if I’m on a roll or not.

MH: What’s your next project?

MM: The sequel, Roses, is finished so I’m currently working on Glass, the third books in the Golden series.

MH: What books are you currently reading?

MM: I’m almost finished with Inferno by Dan Brown and I’m loving it.

MH: If you could live in any book universe, what would that be?

MM: I would live on the other side of Wall in Stardust. I’m not sure why, but I would feel really comfortable there.

MH: Bonus question! It’s super random: if you could magically acquire any accent, what would it be?

MM: I would probably go for a Spanish accent. I already have a vague, mid­-Atlantic accent and can do a British accent pretty well. I’m a bit of an Anglophile, but a Spanish accent, I think that would be pretty fun.

GOLDEN Book Trailer and Giveaway

Looking for your own copy of GOLDEN? Sign up for this giveaway from REUTS Publications and check out the book trailer!